The Legend of Spyro: Differences
by Shadowriser609
Summary: War. The source of innovation and destruction. It's what brings out the best in people and the worst in leaders. 20 years ago a mysterious king known as the Dark Master declared war upon the dragon realms. The fighting has been intense and the casualties are mounting. The world needs a hero.
1. Prologue

Prologue

In the walls of the dragon city Warfang lived people of all races in the realms. Cheetahs, moles, dragons, even some apes and grublins lived in peace, or what you could call peace during wartime. Everyone in the city knew exactly what to do, when to do it, and how it should be done. In every society however, some people slip through the cracks and find a way to forge their own destiny. One such person was a purple dragon named Spyro. Being a purple dragon in the outer-city, he was seen as a whelp, a freak, and someone to belittle at every turn. Some people took pity on the young drake, but most were cruel and unforgiving.

Today had been his day for shopping and he was carrying a bag full of food and other items around his neck. Spyro sighed as we walked through the streets, making sure that the bag with his items stayed secured to his neck. He had been walking for hours and was desperate to get to his "home" before he had to go to work. The young dragon ignored the evil stares that the other citizens of the outer-city gave him as he continued trudging along the stone path. 'Why does everyone hate me?' The young drake pondered. 'I did nothing to even make them feel this way about me.'

Soon the young drake reached his "home." It wasn't much at all really, he lived in an alleyway of the city, but to him and his brothers it was home. "I'm homeeeeee…!" Spyro called out to see if anyone was there. He looked around the alleyway for any signs of his brothers before he heard a rustling sound in a trash pile. The purple drake focused on the pile and a yellow light flew out from it. Spyro rolled his eyes and walked over to the flying nightlight. "You alright there Sparx?" The purple drake asked his dragonfly brother.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I just had a run in with another insect that was trying to move in. Nothing this dragonfly couldn't handle." Sparx said as he flexed his arms.

"Another one? We really don't have any room do we?" Spyro gave a sigh. This…he didn't really like. To turn away other creatures but he knew that he had to focus more on himself and his family. "Seen Flame anywhere?"

"Well he came by earlier, but he said that he needed to work later than normal. I wonder what 'special package' he is delivering this time." Sparx replied.

"Another one? Looks like they trust him to deliver some pretty important stuff, huh?" Spyro replied. Then his eyes widened in realization. "Hey Sparx, what time is it?!"

"Can't you look up for yourself?" Sparx asked. The dragonfly then looks to the sky and notices it is almost a bright red color. "I'd say around close to dusk."

"Oh nononononono…! I'm going to be late! Sparx, hold down the fort while I'm gone!" Spyro then quickly took off his backpack, running quickly to his job to try to make it in time, he couldn't afford to be late.

"Bye I guess…" Sparx called out to the purple dragon as he ran off. Spyro tried waving back, but he tripped over his own paws, landing on his face with a grunt before getting up and running again, his paws fighting for any extra grip on the stone path.

The purple dragon burst from the alleyway and began making his way towards Warfang's weapons plant. Warfang's weapons plant had to be one of the biggest in the realms. It was packed with various forge stations, recycling pits, and collection bays. Some would call this building the source of Warfang's war effort. Spyro dodged and weaved through crowds of people, fighting for every ounce of speed he could muster. He remarkably avoided hitting anyone. He didn't take note of his reaction time however as he continued running. By the time he got to the plant, he was running so fast that he had to skid to a stop. Spyro then started looking for his boss to apologize for being late, even though he wasn't that late.

Spyro found his boss talking to the recycling chief and waited patiently for his boss to be done talking. Once the boss was done, he saw Spyro and sighed. "Spyro, I've told you about being late. I'm going to have to dock your pay this week." The earth dragon said to the youngling.

"W-wait, I'm sorry I'm late…! I'll do anything, I will even work overtime and into the morning! P-please don't dock my pay, I need it to pay for food and other stuff…!" The purple dragon pleaded.

"I'm very sorry Spyro, I truly am, but if I keep cutting you slack like this, the other workers will feel I am favoriting you over them." The earth dragon replied sighing.

"I-I'm sorry sir…it won't happen again, it's just I don't have a clock or anything…" His eyes looked at the sky, signifying he could only rely on the sky to tell him the time…maybe if he had a watch or something, he could keep better track of the time.

"Just please don't let it happen again Spyro. Now there's a pile of scrap I need you to take to the forgers in the other room." Spyro's boss said before walking away to check on another part of the plant.

Spyro watched his boss walk away before giving a heavy sigh, drooping his head some. He was glad he got away with it but he really had to stop cutting it close. With a grunt of annoyance, he went to the pile of scrap he was instructed to get and slowly, he started taking the pile to the forgers. Along the way, many of the other workers gave Spyro death glares, but he brushed them off.

Spyro soon reached the door to the forger's room and opened it. Inside, there were a few massive tables where various species were pounding away at metal that they were converting into armor and weapons for the front lines. "E-excuse me, I brought this pile of scrap for you guys. What do I do now?" Spyro asked the room full of forgers hoping for an answer.

"Just set it down to yer' left." A mole called out. Spyro set the pile down obediently, stretching some as he came over to the forger, deciding to help out some. He didn't want a half blind mole to do all the work himself afterall. "Could ye' get me th' hamm'r over there?" the mole said pointing to a table a few feet to his right.

"Gotcha!" Spyro said. He quickly made his way to the table where the hammer was. Spyro grabbed it with his tail and moved it to his paws before giving it to the mole. "Here you go."

"Thank you." The mole said before he began pounding away at the metal that was at his station. As the mole was working, Spyro's curiosity took over and he watched the mole labor away at the metal.

"So what…what is it going to be?" Spyro asked the mole.

"Just s'me armour for th' front." The mole replied. "Could ya' light the fire pit? I need to heat this."

"Alright." Spyro said as he squared himself away with the coals of the fire pit. Spyro prepared to shoot fire out of his maw, but only a tiny bit escaped from it. Spyro fell forward from the amount of effort that he exhorted trying to shoot fire. Luckily that small amount was enough. Spyro was breathing hard, his cheeks reddened from embarrassment. He knew a fire dragon should be able to use a much stronger fire than the spirt he just pulled off, but as far as he remembered, his fire had always been weak. It was very embarrassing to be a dragon who couldn't even properly breathe fire. The mole forger paid no mind to Spyro's reaction to his flame and set the metal in the fire pit to be heated.

"Do you need me for anything else?" Spyro asked the mole, sighing in relief because the mole failed to see Spyro's pathetic flames.

"HEY HELPER!" A booming voice rang out in reference to him. "GET YOUR SORRY ASS DOWN HERE AND HELP LOAD UP THESE WEAPONS!"

Spyro let out a yelp in surprise before shouting in response. "COMING!" Spyro then looked back at the forger. "Sorry, I got to go now, good luck!" He said before running out of the room towards the source of the voice. He found a few dragons and cheetahs standing around a pile of boxes.

"Grab those boxes over there and take them to the loading dock." And ice dragon told the youngling.

"G-Got it!" Spyro replied and he set to work. Spyro would lift as much as his body could handle with the best strength he could muster. Tirelessly he walked back and forth until eventually he reached the last few boxes. Spyro grabbed them and began walking towards the loading dock; however he tripped over his own feet and fell forward on his face. A few of the workers laughed at the purple dragon's blunder and he was kicked in the gut a few times by passing workers.

"Useless whelp." A fire dragon worker said as she walked past him.

"…" Spyro said nothing as he fought his body's will to stay on the ground. He continued to work as if nothing happened, but to say the experience didn't affect him would be a lie. His stomach region was aching and it felt like he had just been stabbed in the heart yet he took no act in retaliation as he worked. Spyro pushed back the tears that would rush to his eyes and quickly shook his head.

He soon finished moving the boxes to the loading dock and a few dragons left the plant with the weapons, bringing them to the front lines. Spyro walked around the factory and continued to work various odd jobs that they would have him perform. He would be punched a few times in the face and kicked a few more times all the while trying to get that fire dragon's hateful statement out of his head. He hated that he had been told things like that and worse his entire life, but it still had a way of affecting him emotionally. Why would someone who he didn't even know call him that? Well…he knew why…but he shook his head, trying to snap out of it before his shift ended.

"Alright everyone pack up." The earth dragon boss called out to the entire factory.

"Phew…" Spyro said in relief. Spyro stretched himself out and shook his head as he started to pack up his current job so he could go back home. He decided it would be best to stop and thank the earth dragon for not firing him before.

"Yes Spyro?" The plant boss asked him.

"I um, wanted…t-to thank you for earlier…for not getting super angry…and not firing me…" Spyro said while fidgeting. He looked to the ground and just prayed to the ancestors that the dragon wasn't made with him for being late.

"Spyro like I said before, just try not to be late again. You're a good kid and I don't like having to dock your pay." The plant boss said to the young drake. Spyro winced and gave the boss a nod and a sigh.

"I understand sir…sorry." Spyro said. He started to back away, not sure what else to say at this point. He exited the plant and began limping back to the alleyway he called his home. Along the way home, he heard a female voice shouting followed by a black object flying off into the moonlight. His eyes traced the object, eyes widening in surprise as it flew away…could it have been a dragon? No… he hadn't seen any black dragons before…he had HEARD about them but he never actually seen one. He kept walking anyways, looking for the source of the shouting that he heard earlier. He then noticed a cheetah woman standing in front of her shop with her hands on her hips and shaking her head.

"Damned thief." She said before walking inside.

"…" Well that answered what happened. Whatever it was, that woman had just been robbed…with how fast that thing flew past, it was no wonder it got away. Spyro didn't have much to worry about as he continued walking. His family owned nothing so why would he be robbed in the first place, after walking for a little bit, he arrived back in the alleyway. "Home at last."

The purple dragon looked into the alleyway and noticed a fire dragon lying next to a wall. Sparx was sleeping on a trashcan lid like usual and the dragon seemed to be sleeping as well. Despite being a disturbing scene to others, the scene made Spyro smile as he came over to them and sat next to the fire dragon, lying with him and taking a sigh as he tried to let himself fall asleep, hopefully tomorrow would be easier.

Somewhere in a different part of city, there was an abandoned warehouse that no one dared go near. No one knew when it might fall apart or collapse…worse yet, it was rumored that a strange dragon had made the warehouse its home. A black spec started approaching the warehouse and soon landed in front of the building. The figure was an all black dragon which had scars on every bit of his body. His eyes were a deep crimson color and he appeared to be around the age of 17. The dragon had a satchel around his neck, filled with all the good he just stole from that store earlier in the night. "Damned shopkeeper." The black dragon groaned. "Almost caught me in the act." The dragon then walked inside and flew up to a catwalk.

Once on the catwalk, the dragon emptied his bag's contents on the grate floor below him. Some fruits rolled out and a few assorted items clanged against the metal floor of the catwalk. The dragon ate the fruit and examined the non-edible items he stole. They were and assortment of gems, spoons, and a picture frame. The spoons would get some money in the side-market, while the picture frame had a picture in it that would not mean anything to anyone the black dragon who try and sell it to. The frame itself did hold some value as if he was going to hunt down one of his wanted posters and put it inside the frame. The dragon chuckled at the thought and then looked in to the starry night through one of the various holes in the roof. The dragon sighs again and flies down to the stone floor below the catwalk and goes to sleep.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Spyro the dragon woke up from his long night's rest. The work from the plant took a lot more out of him than he realized and he had a hard time standing up. He let out a grunt, shaking his head and trying to remember if he had work today. While he thought about this, he looked around for his brothers before seeing them talking to each other. "Hey you guys….what time is is? What you both talkin' about?" Spyro asked the dragonfly and red dragon.

"Well, we were talking about how you overworked yesterday." The fire drake replied. "Also, it's about time I go to work. Mail needs to circulate you know?"

"Alright then…Be sure to hurry back ok? It's been a while since we all were together without being asleep." Spyro said with a smile and nodding. "Don't worry 'bout me though, I can work just fine!" Spyro tried standing up tall to prove it, only to wince in pain quite visibly.

"Clearly." The dragonfly remarked.

"Ha hah…Well there's not much I can do, not many places are hiring." Spyro grumbled some, sighing as he winced, feeling the pain all over his body. He was smaller than most dragons his age and possibly weaker to, yet he was stuck with a heavy lifting job.

"Take it easy Spyro, you don't have to work for a while." The fire dragon told Spyro.

"I know…Hey, do you think I can come with you today then?" Spyro asked his fire dragon brother hopefully, giving a smile. Spyro had always wanted to see more of the city. He has always lived in the outskirts and has only very rarely gone to the inner parts of the city. The inner part of Warfang was where all the richer species lived. There were shops in both the inner and outer-cities but the difference was like night and day, at least that's what Flame told Spyro. The bookstores in the outer-city for example, had books all cluttered around and full shelves that if you grabbed a book from would cause the shelf to collapse. Compared to the library of the inner-city, the outer-city's was like a cardboard box compared to a house. The building was as large as city hall, the interior was pristine and even the floor was decorated.

The fire dragon lowered his head to the right and sighed. He wanted the young dragon to come with him, but his boss never like unexpected factors. "I-I don't know Spyro, Magnus isn't exactly the best person when it comes to surprises."

"Oh…so it's impossible then?" Spyro gave a sigh and looked down at the ground. He really wanted to go with his brother Flame and see the inner-city.

"It's not impossible bro, but I just have no way of knowing how he would react to you suddenly showing up." Flame said. He realized how much his comments affected the young dragon in front of him and his voice became frantic. "N-not that I don't want you to come or anything..."

"I-It's ok, don't worry about it." Spyro put on a fake smile for Flame, looking up to him. "It's fine." Of course Flame could tell it was a fake smile from Spyro, but Spyro was always one to put other before himself.

"O-ok then. I'd better get going before Magnus yells at me for being late again." Flame replied. Flame then took off into the air and began flying towards the courier's office. He still felt guilty for not being able to bring Spyro with him, but like he said to Spyro, Magnus wasn't one for surpises. Spyro nodded and waved his brother off the best he could before sighing and plopping onto his rear and looking to the floor.

"And there he goes…There goes my chance of seeing the inner city…" Spyro said as he sat on his back haunches. He sat there for a while before he decided to go into the outer-city for a walk. Before he go to far however, Sparx flew in front of his snout. Spyro yelped in surprise when he saw the dragonfly that close to him. "Sparx, can you get out of my face?"

"Not until you let me come with you. Someone's got to make sure your purple butt stays out of trouble." Sparx replied folding his arms.

"Fine, fine, come with me then. It's not like I'm going to the inner-city…even if I wanted to." Spyro mumbled the last bit hid it with a grunt. Spyro and Sparx left their alleyway home and began walking into the outer-city. He wasn't dumb enough to just walk into the inner-city. Without a guide, he would get lost and he would cause a commotion. It would be better, if say he was with Flame. Flame was well known due to being a mail courier…so if Spyro was with him, people would at least stay away. Going there alone however, it would just go to hell.

As they walked through the outer-city, Spyro would occasionally catch people glaring at him with disgust. One time a mother even hurried her children inside their house when Spyro looked at them. He lowered his head, just trying to shut it all out as he continued walking. He kept trying to think of something interesting to do…something that wouldn't that require him to move that much at all. That's when the thought hit him, Spyro made a right at the next intersection he came to and started going towards the only peaceful place in the outer-city, the park. Before the war the park used to be a place that people could just enjoy the beauty of nature, but now it's been all but abandoned. Sure it remains mostly clean with the occasional trash pile here and there, but no one ever visits it anymore. This made it a perfect spot for the purple dragon and his dragonfly friend to relax.

After walking around the park for a little bit, Spyro found a place near a pond and sat down on his back haunches simply taking deep breaths of the air around him. His dragonfly companion landed on his shoulder and rubbed Spyro's neck a little in a comforting gesture. "Thanks Sparx." Spyro said with a smile. "I'm fine, don't worry. I'm just…wondering what to do now…"

"If this is you when you're relaxed then I don't want to see you when you're depressed."Sparx stated.

"Ha ha, very funny." Spyro said with a semi-chuckled before looking around. He took in the scenery that was before him and sighed. The way the light glistened off the pond and how the reflected light rolled into the grass was a sight to behold yes, but it still didn't make up for the fact that Spyro wanted to go further into town that day. Spyro then just decided to screw it and go anyway. "Alright! Who cares what anyone else says? I'm going to go see what the inner-city is like."

"Are you sure Spyro? I know you're a brave dragon, but be reasonable. We have no clue how to find our way in that part of town. We're guaranteed to get lost." Sparx said.

"It's fine Sparx. You've got a good memory right? Besides, we'll just follow the opposite way of the sun." Spyro replied. "We are going to in the direction of the sun now…but when we want to leave, we go the other way.

"You know the sun moves right?" Sparx remarked.

"I know THAT Sparx. If it goes down that way…then…you know." Spyro said semi-losing hope to go.

Sparx sighed and looked to his brother's face. He sees Spyro's eagerness to go and figures that Spyro would go with or without him. "How do I let you talk me into these things?"

"I'm just naturally a good talker." Spyro said with a smile as they began their journey. Sparx chuckled.

"You a good talker? The last time I was shopping with you, you barely said a word." Sparx said.

"Well that's…someone finally had to let you talk. If I didn't you would be talking non-stop for hours when we got home." Spyro replied.

"Uh huh." Sparx sarcastically said. "Keep telling yourself that purple boy."

"Just stay with me glow-torch." Spyro stated. Sparx pouted a little bit, but secretly he enjoyed the comment. A few minutes later, the duo reached the inner-city and began looking around.

"I just wonder what the red guy'll say when he finds us when we get lost." Sparx remarked.

"We won't get lost and he won't find us, the inner-city is too big for him to find us that easily!" Spyro replied.

"What about that time we tried this little crusade? He caught us before we even were close to it." Sparx stated.

"That…was just some bad luck." Spyro replied quickly as he kept walking. "We live in this city, we should be allowed to explore wherever we want."

"Ok then, but when Flame finds us I'm going to say I told you so." Sparx remarked.

"Deal." Spyro said with a smirk. The duo continued their exploration and Spyro's eyes widened in amazement. All around him he saw pristine buildings, shops as far as the eye could see, and everyone conducting themselves in a sort of professional style as opposed to everyone in the outer-city. A smile spread across Spyro's face as he explored, taking in the sights as his paws sped up, eager to see everything he saw. As Spyro continued his quest through the inner-city, people started giving him curious glares. They'd only heard rumors about a purple dragon living in Warfang, but seeing him in person made them interested in him. He hadn't noticed however, he was far too busy looking at everything, examining everything, and wondering what people did during the day there. Spyro became so un observant that he accidentally walked head first into a wall.

"What's the matter Spyro, a plate's more appealing than walking?" Sparx commented as Spyro stood up again.

"Ahahaha…funny." Spyro said as he regained his senses. A few onlookers snickered at the act that Spyro had just done. They weren't scared of him anymore at least.

The pair continued walking around the city with Spyro getting lost in his own thoughts again. He looked at everything in wonder and fascination again and even though it pretty much the same things over and over again, Spyro didn't care. He wanted to explore every nuance the inner-city had to offer and he wasn't afraid to do just that…unfortunately fate had other plans because he crashed into something else in his curious adventure. This time when Spyro was getting up, he heard a grunting sound and saw a pink dragon lying on the ground in front of him. "Oh I-I'm sorry I didn't see you there. A-Are you hurt?" Spyro asked the pink dragon as it stood up.

"I-I'm f-fine thanks." The dragon said in a rushed feminine voice. The pink dragoness looked at Spyro and almost yelped in surprise.

"Hey, hey, it's ok I'm not going to hurt you miss." Spyro said to the young draogness.

"E-Ember…my name's Ember." The newly named Ember said.

"It's nice to meet you Ember, my name's Spyro." The purple dragon said to Ember. Ember smiled before noticing a sundial she jumped to her feet fully.

"I-I'm sorry I-I got to go…It-it was nice meeting you, Spyro." Ember said. Spyro was about to reply but Ember took off before he got the chance to.

"Nice meeting you to…" Spyro mumbled before continuing on his journey. Eventually the sun began to set in the sky and Spyro began panicking to which Sparx was of no help.

"I told you we would get lost." Sparx commented. "But you didn't want to listen to me."

"Hey you didn't have to come you know. Now do you remember the way back?" Spyro asked the dragonfly. Sparx shook his head. "You didn't remember!? Now how am I supposed to make it to work on time?"

"Hey bro, I don't know. Maybe we try finding the way we came and go from there?" Sparx suggested. Spyro quickly nodded and then took off through the inner-city looking for some indication on how to get home.

As the pair was rushing through the inner-city, Spyro heard a familiar sound…the whistle at the plant Spyro worked for. Spyro immediately stopped and then took off towards the whistle. After they reached the edge of the outer-city, Spyro told Sparx to go home and then rushed inside hoping he wasn't late. Thank Ancestors he was on time today.

"I was about to start looking for you Spyro, cutting it close today I see." The earth dragon boss told the young drake. Spyro looked towards the ground and sighed.

"I-I'm sorry I-I just…" Spyro started before he was cut off.

"It's fine Spyro, now today I want you working in the forger's room today. Just help them move metal around and light the occasional fire." The larger drake said to Spyro. Spyro nodded and made his way to the forger's room. Although upon entry things didn't look so good for the young dragon.

"Oh great, Quake hate's us so much to have this whelp in here with us." One mole said.

"At least have a proper youngling in here that could actually do work." A cheetah added. Spyro sighed.

"So what do you need me to do?" he asked.

"Well fer' starter's you can take that damn pile of met'l and bring it to te' meltin' yard." A lead mole told Spyro. The young drake nodded and moved to pick up the pile only to find that he could barely lift it off the ground. Spryo grunted and he slowly lifted the pile and made his way to the melting yard of the plant. Along the way, a few forgers would swipe at Spyro's legs trying to trip him up and he did fall quite a few times before dropping off the metal. The forgers had Spyro do a few more deliveries similar to the first pile and each pile became more and heavier until he got to one pile that he couldn't lift off the ground. Spyro tried again using all his might, but to no avail.

"Get out of my way whelp." A cheetah said as he picked up and threw Spyro away from the pile. Spyro flew into a broken pile of armor and some workers groaned in annoyance.

"Good job freak, now we even have more damage to buff out of that armor." A mole said.

"I-I'm sorry." Spyro said as he struggled to climb off the armor pile. Eventually he was back on the stone floor and was told to light a fire for the forgers. Spyro tried with all his might, but couldn't find even a spirt of flame to release from his maw. The other workers were angry at the poor drake and received a few kicks to his abdomen region. Spyro grunted in pain and he had a few tears come to his eyes.

"Aw is the whelp going to cry now. You're so pathetic it's not even funny." A cheetah said as he gave Spyro a kick. Spyro yelped a little in pain and then some other workers laughed at the purple drake. Spyro was hit in the face again before the call rang out for the shift to end. The cheetah that was torturing Spyro dropped the drake on the ground and walked away. Spyro panted hard and he lied on the ground and slowly dragged himself to his feet. He walked to the door and then entered the plant's main room. As Spyro was walking, he heard the plant boss call for him.

"Spyro." The plant owner said behind the drake. "Ancestors what did those forgers do to you?"

"I-it's fine sir really…" Spyro said.

"No, no it's not." The earth dragon then sighs. "Spyro if I had known they would beat you like they do I never would have hired you in the first place. You're just a kid. You don't deserve it."

"I-I'll be fine sir." Spyro stated.

"Not if you keep coming here. I'm sorry to say this Spyro, I really am, but I'm going to have to fire you." The earth dragon said solemly.

"F-fired?" Spyro asked in horror. The earth dragon sighed and nodded. Spyro's maw quivered as he struggled to think of the words to say to the dragon. 'Fired? I-I'm fired? How am I supposed to care for my brother and friend now?' Spyro thought to himself.

"You're a good kid Spyro and this isn't the place you need to be. Please understand what I'm doing by this… Now I have to go prepare for the next shift. I wish you the best Spyro." The earth dragon then walked off leaving a speechless Spyro sitting on the ground. Spyro then ran out the door and back to his home as fast as he could. He reached the alleyway and found Flame still awake while Sparx was sleeping. As Spyro walked towards his brother, Flame took note of his expressions.

"What happened Spyro?" Flame asked.

"I-I was fired…" Spyro said.

"Fired? F-for what?" Flame questioned.

"B-because the othe…" Spryo started before he started crying remembering all the times and days he was beaten at work. As Spyro was crying, Flame hugged his brother with his forepaws and rubbed one paw along his neck in a soothing manner.

"It's going to be ok bro. We'll figure it out…" Flame said as he helped Spyro vent his pain. Spyro soon calmed down and Flame made him get some rest. Spyro curled up on the ground as requested and started going to sleep. Flame lied down next to his brother and draped his wing across Spyro's back. Spyro smiled and soon fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Spyro woke up the next day with a grunt. His body ached from the work and pounding he received yesterday and his limbs seemed to refuse his brains orders to move. Eventually, he got his feet bellow himself and looked up to see Sparx and Flame watching him struggle. "M-morning guys…" Spyro said as his jaw throbbed in pain.

"…Morning." Flame said to his brother. He then walked over to the young drake and made him lie back down on the ground. "You need to rest Spyro, allow yourself to heal."

"I'm f-fine Flame…just a little…ack." Spyro said before he clenched his abdomen in pain.

"No you're not fine Spyro, if anything you need a doctor, but we can't afford one so the best thing is for me to take off of work and stay here until you get better." Flame said.

"Y-you can't take off of work. I'll be fine b-besides Sparx is here after all." Spyro said. Flame sighed and looked to Sparx.

"Please make sure he stays here." He said to the dragonfly.

"I'll keep him here. I mean it's not like he can really move anywhere anyways." Sparx stated.

"I'll be ok bro, really." Spyro said. Flame looked at his brother in a face that said 'are you actually being serious right now?' and then sighed.

"Alright, just-just don't over exert yourself." Flame said before taking off into the sky for his job. Spyro sighed as he watched his brother leave but not in a way of wishing he would have stayed behind, but one more along the lines of him longing to have a job like his brothers. Spyro never wanted to replace his brother, but the thought of just getting to go places he would have never gone before really was an inviting proposition to him. Then he had an idea, one that would be the beginning of something that he would have never foreseen happening in his lifetime. Spyro decided to try and find a job for the courier's office, although the problems he would be facing are his brothers. Sure Sparx wouldn't be that hard to convince to let him do it, but Flame on the other hand…but they needed the money, and Spyro knew he couldn't make is brother work extra hours at the office just to make up for Spyro not having a job of his own. He didn't even want to have to lie to his family, but it was the only way his plan could work. Spyro, satisfied with his plan, started getting up again.

"Didn't fire brain tell you to rest?" Sparx asked.

"I feel a lot better actually, I-I'm going to go into town for a little bit. I'll be back soon." Spyro said to the dragonfly while hiding his pain.

"Then I'm coming with you…" Sparx started.

"No!..." Spyro yelled before toning his voice down. "S-seriously I'll be fine Sparx. I just want to walk for a little bit…" Sparx sighed.

"Alright, but if old hot-head wants to know where you are, I'm telling him it was your idea." Sparx said. Spyro nodded and then began to walk out of the alleyway. "And I guess I'll go back to doing…whatever I guess." Sparx said to where Spyro couldn't hear. Spyro walked into the outer-city and began retracing his route to where he entered the inner-city before. He walked around until he got to the park and then got onto the street that led to the inner-city. At least he remembered his way into the inner-city. Soon Spyro entered the inner-city and then began looking around for the courier's office. He would get the occasional wave from people who were passing by. After a few hours of searching, Spyro's stomach made plans of its own and a low growl could be heard coming from it. Spyro sighed and went find somewhere to eat. Eventually he found a restaurant that was in his price range and walked inside the building. It wasn't the biggest of places with only a few tables here and there, but it seemed quite busy at the time. Spyro walked over to a table by the window and sat down on one of the cushions around it. After a few minutes, a cheetah walked over to him.

"Well I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?" The waiter asked.

"My name's Spyro." Spryo replied.

"Well it's nice to meet you Spyro, so what should I get you?" The cheetah inquired.

"Is there anything you think would be good? I mean most of the stuff I see written down on the paper here on the table I've never heard of before. No offense." Spyro said. The cheetah chuckled.

"None taken boy. As for recommendations, I suggest the stew. It's what most dragons that I see get." The waiter answered.

"Can I have that please?" Spyro asked. The waiter nodded.

"I'll get it to you in a minute." He said before walking off again. Spyro smiled a little as he watched the cheetah walk away. While he waited, Spyro looked around outside the window for a little bit. He glanced at shops, street markets, and a few other restaurants before he saw something he could use to help him reach the courier's office. There was a small sign at the end of the road perpendicular to where he was that had the office listed among other items. A few seconds later, Spryo heard some glass clink against the wooden table and he looked to see the waiter with the food he ordered earlier. "My you're a curious one." The waiter said.

"O-oh I'm sorry I was just…" Spyro started before the waiter held his paw up.

"Spyro, I was a kid once myself. I understand how curious people can get so don't apologize for it." The waiter said. Spyro smiled and then began eating his food. As soon as he swallowed the first mouthful, Spyro lit up in surprise.

"H-how did you make this so good?" Spyro asked.

"Trade secret." The waiter replied with a chuckle. Spyro chuckled a little himself and then continued eating. The waiter left Spyro's table to go take care of other customers, but occasionally he would glare at Spyro and see the purple drake wince in pain from time to time. He smiled a little because of how he asked the chef to add some spirit gem powder to the stew to heal the young drake while he ate at first the chef was confused, but when she saw the bruises and cuts Spyro had on him she understood and complied with the waiter's wishes. Soon Spyro finished eating and walked over to the counter to pay. As Spyro was walking, he noticed his limbs didn't hurt at all, none of the pain he had was there, and the cuts from lifting the metal were gone as well. Before he could take the little gems he had on him out of the satchel he was wearing, the waiter told him something. "One stew isn't going to hurt the business." Spyro's eyes went wide when he realized the waiter was saying he could walk out without paying.

"Are-are you sure? I mean I-I don't want to…" Spyro stammered.

"I'm positive; I hope you have a good day young one." The waiter said before taking some food to another table. Spyro stood still in shock for a few seconds before smiling and then walking out the door. He walked to the sign he saw earlier and followed the direction to the courier office.

Eventually Spyro arrived at the office and opened the door a crack to see if Flame was inside. Spyro found no trace of his brother and walked inside the room. The building was a lot bigger that what he thought it would be that's for sure. It was a 2 story structure with a hole in the middle of floor that lead to a skylight above the building, probably for easy level transition. Spyro found a white and grey dragon behind a desk and other couriers with satchels were walking up to the dragon to get their mail. Spyor decided that talking to the dragon would be the best course of action and approached the desk. "May I help you sir?" An older voice from the whit dragon said.

"I-I was just curious if you had a position open for me to fill? I know my brother works here and I don't want him putting in extra time just because I don't have a job." Spyro said.

"Ah you must be Flame's brother. As a matter of fact I do have one last position open that I need someone to fill." The white dragon said.

"What do you need me to do Mr. …" Spyro said before the white dragon told him his name.

"Cessabit. Just Cessabit. The job I have you is a simple three item delivery." The newly named Cessabit said. Spyro nodded and Cessabit handed Spyro two letters and a package. Spyro put the items in his satchel. "Before you go young one I need to tell you the one rule we do not break. Under no circumstances are you allowed to open those letters or packages. We like to keep confidentiality between us and the people we deliver to. It shows that we respect their privacy and don't want to interfere in their affairs." Spyro nods. "Good lad. Now I wish you be best of luck and safe travels."

"Thank you sir, I won't let you down." Spyro said before going outside the office and taking off into the sky. He struggled at first, but after a few seconds he stabilized himself and flew towards his destination. Spyro landed in front of a house in the mid-city and knocked on the door. A dragoness opened the door and Spyro handed the lady her mail. The dragoness thanked Spyro for his service and Spyro flew to the next destination. He handed to house owner his letter and then looked to his address list for the package. Spyro flew to where the paper said to go and found himself at an abandoned warehouse a little outside of the town. Spyro slowly walked up to the door and knocked on it. "Hello? Anyone in there?" Spyro knocked again and this time the door opened a tiny bit. Spyro pushed the door open out of curiosity and slowly stepped inside. After walking for a minute or two Spyro heard a voice call out to him from nowhere.

"Just set it down where you are right now." The voice said.

"O-ok…do you need anything else?" Spyro called out.

"I'm fine." The voice replied. Spyro then set the package down as requested and then walked outside of the warehouse. Spyro looked back just for a moment saw a black figure hurry up and close the door Spyro opened. Spyro shrugged and then flew back to the office. When he arrived however, he was greeted by someone he knew all too well. Flame was walking out the door just as Spyro opened it.

"Spyro? What are you doing here?" Flame asked in surprise.

"I-I was just wanting to, um, visit you…" Spyro said before rushing inside the building leaving a dumbstruck Flame outside.

"Since when has he…?" Flame then realized why his brother was here and opened the door. Before he could confront Spyro however, Spyro flew through the open door with another package in tow. "I guess I'll talk to him when he gets back home." Flame then took off into the air and flew back to the alleyway to question a certain dragonfly on why Spyro wasn't resting. Spyro on the other hand was delivering a package to a restaurant similar to the one he ate at earlier. Spyro landed and began to walk towards the building. However before he got far, he was tackled by a black figure that Spyro barely saw. The figure stole Spyro's satchel and took the package out of it. Spyro climbed to his feet only to see the figure simply vanish into the ground, taking the package with it. Spyro made sure none of his money was stolen, which to his surprise wasn't. He then walked over to where the figure vanished and found a note on the ground. Spyro picked up the note and read it to himself. _If you are reading this courier that it means that you stumbled upon my target. Don't make the same mistake again._ 'Well it would have been nice to know what you're target was before you jumped me.' Spyro thought to himself. He then sighed realizing he lost the package and then slowly made his way to the courier's office to tell them what happened. Spyro walked into the room with his head hung low.

"Spyro, what's wrong?" Cessabit asked the young drake.

"I-I was jumped by something and it stole the package. It-it left a note behind as well." Spyro said.

"Can I see the note?" Cessabit inquired. Spyro handed the older drake the note and Cessabit read over the note's contents. "I see, did this thin hurt you in anyway?"

"No not really, it just knocked me to the ground." Spyro replied. "I-I'm being fired aren't I?"

"What? Who said anything about firing you? We've had this happen a few times without couriers before Spyro. What happened today wasn't your fault." Cessabit said in a comforting tone. Spyro looked up and smiled.

"S-so is there anything else you want me to take for you?" Spyro asked.

"Actually the other couriers have completed the other runs I had for them so there really is nothing else to do. Besides we were about to close the building anyways." Cessabit answered. Spyro nodded. He then turned and walked out the door of the office and took off into the sky, He wanted to take the long way home to avoid Flame's lecture for as long as possible. 'Just what was so important to the black creature that wanted him to steal the package?' Spyro thought as he flew away from the inner-city.

As night fell upon the city of Warfang, our purple dragon landed in his home ready to receive his lecture while a very different story was happening at the restaurant Spyro was delivering to. Inside the building, a cheetah family was hiding behind a counter. Suddenly, black flames began engulfing the doorway. The door then exploded inward and two black figures stepped through the door. One was smaller than the other one and the larger one told the smaller one to wait by the door. The smaller one nodded and turned towards the door. The larger object started flipping over tables. Then both objects heard a whimper come from the cub that was with the cheetah family. The taller black object then went behind the counter and grabbed the older cheetah male and threw him into a stack of tables. The table splinters cut the cheetah man's skin and he started crawling backwards only to be pinned by the larger black figure. "Where's the deal going down?" The larger black figure asked.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." The larger male cheetah said.

"Yes you do. We know about your dealings with the weapon shipments. Tell us where the next one will be and I won't kill you." The dark figure said. The cheetah male's eyes widened in fear and he tried moving again.

"I-I don't know where the meetings are…all I know is where they us that they use keys that we need to use to open the crates are going to be sent." The cheetah man said. The dark figure then held up a key.

"You mean these things? We know about them, but what I want to know is where they are going." The figure said. The smaller one looked inside and saw the scene and then quickly looked back outside.

"Th-the couriers. That's how we know. M-most of the meetings are held on the east side. That's all I know…please don't kill me…" The cheetah pleaded.

"I won't kill you." The back figure said. The cheetah man sighed in relief and then grimaced as a weird smell he hadn't smelt in a while came to his nose. He looked down and saw a pool of liquid between his legs. The figure then walked over to the mother and the cub. The figure then pinned the mother to the counter and the cub screamed.

"W-what are you doing?" The cheetah male asked. "I thought you said you wouldn't kill…"

"I said I wouldn't kill _you_. I never said anything about your wife." The figure then brought his tail-blade to the cheetah female's neck and the cub began crying.

The older male was paralyzed with fear and then found the courage to shout at the figure. "W-wait don't kill her. Take the boy instead!" The figure then looked at the older male in horror and then looked to the female. He saw the female had a look of agreement in her eyes and he plunged his tail-blade through her heart. The cub started crying and then both figures started advancing towards the male cheetah.

"You mother fucking son of a bitch." The larger figure said.

"How could you turn against your own son like that?" The smaller one asked in a feminine voice.

"What? That little runt? He's nothing more than a money hog at least he could be replaced!" The cheetah said. Both figures growled and then the smaller one jumped on the cheetah male. "N-no what are you doing? You said you wouldn't kill me."

"That's before you fucking abandoned your son like you did." The smaller figure replied. She then looked to her brother, the larger figure, and he nodded. The smaller figure then charged up some black fire and just before she fired, something hit her. The cub had taken a small wooden plank and hit her on her flank. The larger figure pulled the cub away from his sister and then she fired at the cheetah male. He cried out in agony as he slowly burnt to death. The cub cried after hearing the screams and then both figures turned to leave, but the smaller one stopped at the door and looked back at the cub. "Am we can just leave him here like this." The larger figure looked towards the cub.

"Ok C, you take the key and start looking around for the weapons crate while I talk to the boy." The now named Am said. C nodded and began looking around for a crate that the key would work with, Am on the other hand walked over to the crying cub. "I-I'm sorry about your family little one. We wouldn't have killed them had your father and mother done what they did."

"Wha-what did they do?" The cub asked.

"They disowned you and called you nothing more than a parasite that was draining their money who could easily be replaced…Your mother even agreed with your father when he yelled that comment. I-I'm sorry…" The figure replied. The cheetah cub let the figure's words sink in and the figure pulled the cub close to his chest. The cub started sobbing again and the larger figure rubbed his paw along the cub's head and back. After a minute, Am let the cub on his back and C called out.

"I think I found something." C said to Am. Am walked over and found the crate C was looking at. He used the key to open it and inside was….money, the weapons were somewhere else. "What do we do now?" C asked.

"We patrol the east side and watch the couriers delivering there. If we are to stop our father, it has to be like this." Am replied. C nodded in complete agreement and the two with the cub walked out of the building. Am then turned around and lit the building on fire…so long illegal weapons front.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Well, yesterday Flame did lecture Spyro but it wasn't as bad as Spyro expected. Spyro had expected him to be angry and a few fire balls to be tossed; instead, Flame calmly talked to his brother about the situation and managed to accept Spyro's new job on one condition, they do runs together so Flame could keep an eye on Spyro. Spyro had agreed whole heartedly and the pair fell asleep. Today Flame woke up Spyro bright and early for work. Spyro groaned as he stretched out his wings and body. "Why did we have to wake up so early Flame?" Spyro asked as he stretched out.

"Because we need to be at work in a few minutes, I let you sleep in today." Flame replied. Spyro went wide-eyed and then quickly finished stretching.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get going." Spyro said in a rush. Flame held up his paw to calm Spyro down and Spyro complied.

"We're not late bro; we can take our time getting there." Flame said.

"Ok then." Spyro replied. Spryo and Flame then walked out of their alley home and towards their job. After a little bit of walking, they reached the office and Cessabit gave them their assignments. The brothers mail their delivery runs all over the city, never leaving each other's side. Occasionally, the people receiving the mail would give them a tip or two for the work they did. Around mid-day they finished their first set of runs and they walked into the office again. "We finished our first run sir." Spyro said to Cessabit.

"I'm glad to hear that." Cessabit replied.

"Anything else for us to take Cessabit?" Flame asked.

"As a matter of fact I do Flame. There was a package dropped off recently that specifically asked for two couriers to deliver it." Cessabit answered.

"We'll take it." Spyro said. Flame nodded in agreement and Cessabit handed them the package.

"It is addressed to a factory on the east side of town near the outskirts. I suggest caution, packages like these tend to be more dangerous than single person runs. Be careful you two." Cessabit said from behind the counter. Both Spyro and Flame nod and walk out the door. The brothers took off into the sky and began making their way to their destination. As they were flying, Spyro began inspecting the package. It was the same size as the one he took yesterday to the restaurant. 'Why would they have him deliver the same package to another location? Is that black creature involved?' Spyro thought to himself. He was about to open the package to find out, but stopped himself and remembered the confidentiality rule. Spyro set the package back in his satchel and continued flying with his brother to the factory.

After a few minutes, Spyro and Flame arrived at the factory and began walking towards the door. Along the way to the door, both dragons were suddenly slammed in the side from an unseen force. Both Spyro and Flame were knocked to the ground and then they heard two voices talk to each other. "Am their just kids…." A feminine voice said.

"I know C, we won't seriously hurt them ok." An older masculine voice said. Spyro looked to the source and saw two black figures standing not too far away from them. As Spyro and Flame examined the figures, they noticed that they were black dragons. The smaller one was slightly sleeker than the older one and had a crimson underbelly and wing webs, the older one looked a little more built, had a few scars on his body, and had a grey underbelly and wing webs. And aside from some the older one's horns facing downward instead of upward, they were practically twins.

"W-who are you?" Flame asked as he stood up. The black dragons didn't respond for a moment before the smaller one cleared her throat.

"Hand over your cargo and you won't be harmed." She said.

"We can't, it doesn't belong to you." Spyro said to her. The older one stepped forward.

"Last chance kid, hand over the package and you two can walk away." He told the pair. Spyro shook his head. "Suit yourself kid." Both dragons crouched low and began circling Spyro and Flame. Both brothers looked surprised by the black dragons' aggressive actions and then the smaller one pounced on Spyro. She knocked him to the ground and tried reaching the bag on his neck. Spyro on the other hand put his body between her and the satchel and winced every time the black dragon on him clawed at the bag. Flame on the other hand was shooting fire at the older dragon who returned with his own black fire. The black fire easily outmatched Flame's fire and he started back stepping. As Flame was back stepping, Spyro was still on the ground under the black dragoness. She at this point had opened a few cuts and was becoming frustrated with him. She got off of Spyro and then blasted him with the wind element a little to move him. Spyro was sent into the air a few feet before hitting the factory wall with a thud. While Spyro was flying, the satchel was torn from his neck and landed a few feet away. Spryo strained to get up, but the dragoness was searching through Spyro's satchel. She pulled out the package and began tearing it open. Spyro mustered a small fire spirt that burnt the black dragoness' paw a little bit. She winced a little but ignored Spyro and pulled out a key from the package box. Before Spyro could react, he saw Flame slam into the wall next to him with the older black dragon standing next to the dragoness. Spyro looked at his brother and saw he had a few burn marks on his body as well as a few cuts on his torso. Spyro then looked to the two black dragons and the dragoness handed the key to the older one. He then felt something build up inside of him, like something inside of him snapped. Spyro felt a fire built up in his chest and released it. A stream of fire escaped Spyro's mouth and caught the dragoness in the shoulder. She yelped in pain and then fell forward on the ground. "Cyn!" The older dragon said to his sister as he checked to made sure she was ok. She wasn't hurt too badly and she merely fell forward to avoid another attack. The older black dragon then stalked towards Spyro, looking at him with crimson eyes with one goal. The older dragon slams his clenched paw into the wall next to Spyro's head and bends the metal. "Don't do that again." He said.

"Why should I stop? Look what you did to my brother, for all I care she deserves it." Spyro said in rage.

"You and your brother should have handed over the key. Do you seriously have no idea what is going on inside that building?" The older dragon asked in anger.

"And you probably alerted them to your presence by slamming us both into the wall." Spyro said. The older drake chuckled.

"Well they won't be a problem for too much longer." The older drake said with noticeable venom dripping from his tongue. He then looked behind him and saw his sister climb to her feet. He then flicked his head towards the factory and she nodded. She then vanished into the ground and then Spyro started hearing shouts from inside the factory. The older drake followed his sister and the screams intensified until after a few seconds they died down. Spyro gulped as he finally realized what the older drake meant and slowly walked towards to the door. He slowly opened the door and stepped inside. When he did however, he was mortified to say the least. Right after he closed the door he was greeted by a mangled arm from some creature. He couldn't tell what species it was because of just how mangled it was so he tried ignoring it and moved further inside. He reached the main room and saw the carnage that the two black dragons have caused. There were bodies littered everywhere the eye could see. Some were sliced in two, others were burned beyond recognition, some others were decapitated, and the final ones had their organs strewn around them. Spyro held back the urge to vomit and then heard a whimper not too far away from him. He looked over to where the source and saw the older dragon standing in front of an ice dragon who was backed into a wall. The ice dragon was extremely injured, half of his wing was missing, he had cuts running along the length of his body, and he had only half of a tail blade. 'How was this dragon still alive?' Spyro wondered. "I'm going to ask you only one more time, where are these weapons going? If you don't tell me, I'm going to cut out your heart with my claws."

"There being shipped to the same place you're going to be going when he finds you two…." The ice dragon said.

"And where's that?" The younger dragoness asked as she opened a crate in the centre of the room.

"Straight to hell." The ice dragon replied. The older drake growled and then plunged his right foreclaw into the ice dragon's chest and crushed his still beating heart. The ice dragon's body then surged upwards for a split second before falling limp. After the ice dragon died, Spyro couldn't hold in his breakfast anymore and vomited on the floor. The younger dragoness, referred to as Cyn by the older dragon earlier, finished opening the crate and called the older dragon.

"So you were right brother, sorry for doubting you…" She said.

"It's ok sis, c'mon let's make sure these weapons don't fall into the wrong hands." The older drake said. Cyn nodded and The pair started walking towards the door, along the way however, the older one noticed Spyro and told Cyn to wait for him outside. Spyro finally found his tongue and managed to stop vomiting.

"H-how…." He said in a clearly sad tone. "H-how could you kill e-everyone…?"

"It's simple. They serve the Dark Master's army and for that alone they needed to die." The older drake said.

"H-how can you b-be sure though…wha-what if they were forced to do it?" Spyro asked looking up, his purple eyes holding a few tears that started streaming down his face.

"I doubt these whelps were being forced kid. I mean after all me and Cyn dealt with other servants to him last night and they were more than willing to have their son killed over losing their own lives." The black drake replied.

"W-what?...w-where is the son now?" Spyro questioned.

"Staying with me and my sister, now get out of this building unless you want to burn along with it." The drake replied. Spyro went wide eyed and took off out the building. The older drake made sure he was out of the factory before shooting black fire and lighting the factory on fire. Both black dragons flew away, leaving Spyro and his passed out brother to stay and watch the factory be consumed by black fire. Before they did leave however, the dragoness threw Spyro a red spirit gem for Flame. Spyro applied the gem and soon Flame regained consciousness.

"Wha-what happened?" He asked with a groggy tone. He then saw Spyro with a concerned look on his face. "Di-did I miss anything?"

"I-I don't want to talk about it." Spyro said. Flame was about to ask more, but he then saw the burning factory and decided not to ask anymore about it. He climbed to his feet and both he and Spyro flew away just as the supports for the roof collapsed and the building cave in on itself. Spyro and Flame landed in the inner-city of Warfang and went to the courier's office to tell Cessabit about them loosing the package. They opened the door and walked up to the front desk. Before they said a word, Cessabit could tell that Flame was injured and decided to let them have the rest of the day off. They were about to protest, but Flame winced in pain and Spyro decided to listen to Cessabit's advice. The pair walked out of the office and began making their way home. Along the way they decided to buy some fruit from a market in the mid-city and after they did so, they walked to their home in the outer-city. When they arrived back at the alleyway, Sparx was nowhere to be seen, must be on one of his solo adventures again. Flame lied down on the ground and tried resting a little. Spyro lied next to his brother and stayed awake in case anyone came down the alleyway to try and hurt Flame in his sleep. Eventually Spyro dosed off as well and laid his head down next to Flame.

-A few hours later-

Spyro woke up to a thumping sound that was a few feet in front of him. He slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head to see the dragoness from before in front of him. Spyro released a small growl that he didn't know he was capable of and stared at her. "I'm not here to fight."

"You fought us before, why are you not going to fight now?" Spyro asked.

"Because I wanted to see how your brother was doing, Am can be a little forceful at times." She replied.

"Oh…he's fine thanks to that gem you gave me earlier." Spyro replied. "Who's Am?"

"It's a nickname I gave for my brother." She replied.

"Just like he called you Cyn?" Spyro inquired.

"Did he really call me that? I haven't heard that in years from him. But yes like that, only he usually calls me C." Cyn replied.

"So what do these nicknames stand for?" Spyro questioned. Cyn laughed a little under her breath.

"You have to be the oddest dragon I've met. Willing to talk to me after what happened. If you must know, they are shortened versions of our names." Cyn answered. "I'm…"

"Her name is not your concern." A new voice said behind Cyn and Spyro. "Sis, you know we can't just hand out our names to strangers. If we did they could tell our father where we are and we would be captured."

"I know Am, but this dragon isn't like others." Cyn replied. Am looked over Spyro before sighing.

"If you tell him our names, then they're going to be trained on how to fight." Am replied.

"W-wait you can't just…" Spyro started.

"I can and I am. The only people we decide to trust with our names are those who can fight back against our father and pledge to never betray us." Am interjected. Spyro sighed and nodded.

"Before you tell me I want to know, who is your father?" Spyro asked.

"His name is Malefor, otherwise known as the Dark Master to most." Cyn replied. Spyro gulped.

"Hey don't worry kid, we're not going to turn you in to him or anything like that, after all me and Cyn have been through, we distain his motives and his quest." Am told Spyro.

"O-oh.." Spyro said calming down a little.

"So you already most of my name, my full name though is Cynder. My brother's name is Amica." The newly dubbed Cynder said.

"N-nice to meet you I guess…" Spyro said.

"Now that names are out of the way, I want you and your brother ready tomorrow afternoon for training." Amica said.

"W-we don't even know where you live." Spyro said.

"Yes you do, it was your first package you delivered." Cynder said.

"O-oh…" Spyro said.

"See you then kid. Let's go Cyn." Amica said. Cynder nodded and they both took off into the air. Spyro watched as their silhouettes faded into the night sky and he lied back down to go to sleep. He's going to have a lot to explain to Flame tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Well Flame didn't exactly have the best time that morning. He woke up before Spyro like usual and decided to let him sleep, after all Spyro and he had the day off due to Flame's injuries. Flame winced as he stood up and he stretched himself out, after a few pops he made a small yelp, but it was much higher pitch than his normal speech. He then sniffed the air a little and then rubbed on the wall a little to supposedly scratch and itch. After Flame was fully awake, he brother woke up as well. Spyro stretched himself out and then sighed as he finished up. 'How am I going to tell him?' Spyro thought to himself. 'More importantly, how are we going to keep "it" a secret if we can't stay in the alley often anymore?' Spyro then saw his brother standing with his back facing the sunlight entering the alleyway. "Morning Flame." Spyro said trying to hide his depression.

"Morning…" Flame said in response. "Is there anything wrong?"

"N-nothing…why?" Spyro replied.

"You just seem down, did anything happen while I was sleeping?" Flame asked.

"N-no…" Spyro lied. Flame gave him a surprisingly motherly look of concern that penetrated Spyro's lie and Spyro avoided his gaze. "Y-you remember when Pops would have us do things that we didn't want to do, but late on we were thankful he made us do them?" Flame nodded. "I, uh, might have gotten us into one of those situations…"

"What did you do?" Flame asked.

"T-those dragons from yesterday came by last night and told us to meet them for some form of training this afternoon…" Spyro mumbled.

"What was that?" Flame asked. Spyro looked down at the ground. He repeated his statement louder and Flame looked at him in surprise. "They did what now?"

"I-I didn't have a choice Flame, they just showed up and told us to meet them somewhere for training..." Spyro said. Spyro brought his eyes to his brother's face and saw a small sense of panic mixed with curiosity and bewilderment. Spyro looked down to the ground again and his brother put his wing under Spyro's chin. Flame lifted Spyro's head up.

"It's not your fault Spyro." Flame said trying to cheer up his brother. "Did you happen to catch their names for later?"

"Well the dragoness told me her name was Cynder and her older brother was named Amica." Spyro said. Flame nodded and he led his brother to the edge of the alleyway. "Uh Flame, what are we doing?"

"Going to see what those two dragons they can teach us. I mean you saw what they could do more than I could, so I think you would know what happens if we didn't show up." Flame replied. Spyro, assuming the worst, nodded and walked with Flame.

"So where was it they wanted us to meet?" Flame asked.

"At an abandoned warehouse on the west side of the mid-city." Spyro replied. Flame then gestured his paw forward as if to tell his brother to lead on. Spyro sighed and complied. Spyro led Flame through the city, stopping first to buy some food. Spyro and Flame ate their breakfast and then resumed their journey to Amica and Cynder's warehouse. As they were walking, Spyro would occasionally get evil glares from the people residing in the outer-city. Some even spat in his direction, to which his brother Flame responded by growling at the offenders.

After a few hours of walking, they at the warehouse arrived a little after mid-day. Spyro led Flame to the door and pushed on it. The door opened and the pair stepped inside. Once inside, they were greeted by a hallway made from stacked boxes and other assorted items. As they walked, they heard a few shouts and grunts coming from further inside. Flame and Spyro looked to each other and continued on inside the building until they found Amica and Cynder fighting each other in the main section. Flame and Spyro decided to sit down by the entrance and watch the siblings spar. Cynder and Amica rushed at each other a few times, while other times Cynder shot fire at her brother. Amica countered her fire and then blasted her with wind. Cynder jumped to dodge Amica's wind, but then her brother jumped up and slammed her into the ground. Amica pinned Cynder and she grunted. Amica then got off his sister and held a paw out to her. Cynder Grabbed it and Amica pulled her back on all 4s. "And that's why you have to account for your opponent's speed sis." Amica said. Cynder nodded and then Amica turned back to where Flame and Spyro were standing. "You two, out the on the double." Spyro and Flame looked at each other in confusion and then Cynder spoke up.

"He means get over here right now." She said. Spyro and Flame walked over to them and stood side by side.

"Now what?" Spyro asked. He was answered by the blunt end of Amica's tail blade before he spoke.

"Shut up and listen. Now, over the course of this training your asses belong to me. That means you do what I say, how I say, and when I say it. You will refer to me as instructor and my sister as assistant instructor. And most of all, you two are not siblings, instead you two are rivals bent on outperforming the other. Understood?" Amica asked.

"Someone has an ego problem." Flame mumbled, but to his dismay Amica heard his comment.

"Alright then, if you want to talk to me like that then give me 20 laps around the warehouse." Amica ordered. Flame grunted and then complied. As Flame started running, Amica had Cynder take Spyro while he watched Flame. Cynder took Spyro a little away from Amica and Flame and did something unexpected. She somehow created a small black cylinder from the shadows in the room and made it into a sort of punching bag for him. Spyro stared at the cylinder curiously before Cynder spoke up.

"I want you to start hitting this dummy. Strike as fast and as hard as you can, I'd better not see you pulling your punches. Understood?" She said to him. Spyro was still staring at the punching bag when Cynder shouted at him "You got that?!" Spyro jumped in the air and then nodded. He began striking the punching bag with basic attacks. He swiped, bit, and slashed it a few times before his tired brother joined him. Flame was panting hard, but he wasn't going to get a reprieve yet.

"Mind if I use this for a while sis?" Amica asked Cynder. She gestured to the bag as if saying it was all his and then he spoke up. "Flame get your ass over here and start hitting this target. Spyro you go run laps."

"Wait what? I-I didn't do anything wrong." Spyro said thinking the laps were just for punishments.

"50 more laps now get to it." Amica replied. Spyro slumped a little and then took off, running as fast as his legs can carry him across the ground. As he was running, Amica kept a close eye on Spyro to make sure he ran his laps without rest, while Cynder coached Flame as he attacked the punching bag she created. As Flame was striking the bag, Cynder noticed something…off…about him. He tended to favor maneuverability like her and her brother over brute strength like Spyro used. Granted since Cynder's brother used it meant it wasn't that big of a deal, but for it to come so naturally to him when it took Amica a full year to break the habit of fight like a brute. As Cynder was watching, she was snapped out of her thoughts by her brother tapping her shoulder. He then sent Flame to go do some other form of workout routine and gave her a look of confusion. "Something wrong sis?"

"Oh…uh, nothing, why?" Cynder asked.

"Well for starters, I haven't seen you looking at someone like that since you first started realizing I wasn't your dada." Amica replied. Cynder lightly smacked him with her tail. Amica let out one of his rare chuckles and grinned.

"You really had to pick that as the one example? To answer your question though, it's just something with that fire dragon's fighting style." Cynder said.

"What about it?"Amica asked.

"He was surprisingly agile, like he seemed more accustomed to that style over the typical male fighting styled. Granted he was still untrained, but I still find it odd." Cynder answered. Amica then had a thinking expression on his face.

"How naturally?"

"Enough to where it was like me on my first day when I was 4 years old…" Cynder then paused because of a bad memory surfacing in her mind but Amica snapped her out of it.

"Do you think he's hiding something?" Amica questioned.

"I don't know, but something about him seems…not quite right. I just can't put my claw on it." Cynder replied. Spyro soon finished his laps and then Cynder and Amica made the brothers fly around the warehouse while avoiding their fire blasts. After that, the brothers were finally given a break while Amica and Cynder spared each other. Spyro and Flame exhaustedly watched in silence. They watched the two black dragons slash, charge, and blast each other, but they never actually hit one another. Although that didn't stop them from going all out at each other, for example, Cynder had pinned Amica to the ground only for him to use his tail like a lever and throw Cynder off of him before climbing to his feet. Cynder then climbed to her feet and charged her brother, who sidestepped out of the way, but Cynder blasted him with wind and he jumped to avoid it. After a little bit of fighting, Amica and Cynder called their match a draw and then Amica took off to go to the upper sections of the warehouse. Cynder on the other hand began to drill the two brothers again. Cynder made them do more laps, attack dummies, and use their elemental breaths to the point of near exhaustion. Amica came back down from the rafters and saw how much Cynder was drilling them.

"Alright you two, I think that's good for today." Amica called out. Spyro and Flame stopped using their elements and then flopped on the ground from exhaustion. Amica and Cynder facepawed and handed them each a green gem.

"T-thanks…." The brothers managed to say as they climbed to their feet.

"Can't have you two dying on us on the first day after all." Cynder said.

"Hey, you were the one working us to death…" Flame muttered. Cynder let a small growl escape her maw, but then Amica but his wing in front of her body.

"Don't let your anger consume you sis," He said. He then turned back to Flame. "200 laps when you get back." Flame was dumbfounded by that and Spyro tried protesting.

"B-but it's true, this training is way too difficult for us." Spyro said.

"Make that 200 for both of you." Amica replied. Spyro and Flame were about to say something else, but stopped and sighed. They then turned and began walking out the warehouse. Amica flew through one of the holes in the roof and towards the forest, while Cynder flew up to where Amica was earlier. Both siblings however had one thought that was lingering in the back of their minds, what are those two young dragons hiding?


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The way back to the alley home of Spyro and Flame was mostly uneventful. Granted they stopped to buy some green spirit gems to refill their stamina, but aside from that, they actually felt a little stronger after their training session. That didn't stay the same when they woke up that morning however, when they finally got to their feet, their bodies ached and throbbed from the pain they were in. Flame's legs wobbled, while Spyro completely collapsed, how were these two ever expected to get through their training? Eventually the pain started to subside and their vocal cords freed up to let loose something that wasn't going to classify as a scream. "Why, why did I ever let you talk me into this?" Flame said in a high voice grunting.

"I-I didn't exactly have a choice bro…." Spyro replied with his own burst of pain filled speech.

"Sh-should we just skip today?"Flame asked.

"W-well they never said what day they wanted us to come back…" Spyro reasoned. Flame nodded and spent the rest of their time stretching out their sore limbs. After a few minutes, their pain was finally gone and the two brothers let out a sigh of relief. "So….what do you want to go do? I mean we still have the rest of the week off of work after all?"

"Well, I guess I could take you for a tour through the inner-city. Maybe afterward we can go look in the library." Flame replied. Spyro nodded and the pair set out on their venture. They hustled through the outer-city, mainly to avoid any local gangs that would want to jump them due to Spyro being…well Spyro. Flame however did have to step in on a few occasions to make sure his brother would be safe. For instance, just before they reached the mid-city, they were jumped by a group of two ice dragons; Flame wouldn't have any of it, and surprisingly took them down easier than it would normally take. 'I guess that training actually paid off a little.' Flame thought to himself. He then flipped his head upward for some reason that only Spyro knew and the duo continued walking. As they were walking, they failed to notice a small figure leaping from rooftop to rooftop spying on them. The figure tried it's best to keep from view and used the shadows themselves to listen in on Spyro and Flame's conversations. The figure picked up on some references to a secrete that Spyro and Flame were hiding but could never get a conclusive answer because just before Spyro would mention it, Flame would change the subject. Eventually, the pair arrived in the inner-city and Flame began his tour beginning with the theatre. The pair made their rounds, stopping in various shops and other buildings until their sightseeing ended at the doors to the library.

"So, do you have any idea what you want to look for?" Spyro asked.

"I want to look for our parents, I know this place keeps records of everyone who lived in the city. I'm sure they'd have something." Flame replied. Spyro nodded and they both walked inside. The librarian showed them to the personal records section and the two young dragons began their search. Eventually, they found a book covering their former caretaker known as Pops. Pops was the grandfather of Flame and Spyro so the duo figured that it was best to see who his children were from his record. When they read through the record, they found the name they were searching for. Fortem.

"So that was his name…" Spyro said. Flame nodded and then they began looking for Fortem in the records. They found him soon after but sighed when they saw that he was reported dead. The same went for their mother Ouium. Although, they did find information on a close friend of Fortem who was named Ignitus, but there was next to no information on him. They sighed after not finding anything and the two teenage dragons looked at the history of their parents. Spyro and Flame marveled at the information they found, they learned that they were veterans of more than just the war with the Dark Master and apparently, they were both classified as special-forces. The record went on to detail how they infiltrated the ranks of opposing armies to gather intelligence. As they flipped through the records, they came across a picture of both of them in a loving embrace. Quium's stomach region was bulged a little and the twins felt a tear or two come to their eyes. Oh what they would do to meet them. Eventually, they put the records back in the cabinet they found them in and went to see the library. Maybe she had answers regarding this Ignitus character.

"How may I help you boys?" She asked.

"Well…we were looking through the records on our parents and found mention of someone named Ignitus but when we looked, we couldn't find anything." Spyro said.

"That's right, we were just wondering if you knew anything about him." Flame told her.

"Well the records wouldn't have that much since Ignitus doesn't live in Warfang. He's the guardian of fire and lives at munition's forge. Although, he is scheduled to visit the town tomorrow, maybe you can ask him what he knows then." The librarian asked. Both boy's faces lit up.

"Thank you ma'am you don't know how much this means to us." Spyro said. The librarian nodded and then the pair left the library, all the while still under the watchful eye of the figure who at this point had a concerned look on their face. 'Ignitus, coming here? This just screams of an impending attack by father's troops.' The figure thought to itself. The figure followed the brothers until it saw they were heading to the warehouse they visited yesterday. The object then spread its wings and took off for the warehouse. The object was yards ahead of the two brothers when she landed sadly her brother wasn't there, but Cynder felt more than capable to train them….that is if they didn't come to ask questions and train that day. Amica didn't expect them to return that day so he took the cub for a patrol fight, but made sure he was going slow enough so the clingy cub would stay on his neck as he flew. Cynder sighed to herself and decided to wait for the two brothers in the middle of the room. When they arrived, the first thing Cynder did regardless of what their intentions were was make them both run the 200 laps her brother said they would run. The brothers groaned and ran off. Cynder watched and counted their laps and made sure they never did stop running the entire time. As they ran however, Cynder's eyes would sometimes lock onto Spyro's running form, but whenever he looked at her, she turned her head away and her cheeks went a little red. 'Why do I look at dragons like this now, of all times, why is this year the one I go into heat?' Cynder internally asked herself. Spyro gave her curious stares whenever he felt Cynder's full gaze, and secretly admired her as well. Granted it wasn't to the extent Cynder looked at him, but he was wondering what kind of person she was under the hard exterior she put on. Eventually their laps finished and both drakes fell forward in exhaustion. Cynder let them rest and then an all too familiar voice came from above.

"I see you two are back. I have to admit, your commitment is impressive." Amica said as he landed, the cub was about to slide off of his neck, but then he saw Spyro and Flame which caused him to cower behind the drake who helped save him from his family.

"We….we're not here to train actually…." Flame said between his breaths while he looked at Amica. Amica avoided his glare feeling uncomfortable by the oddly sexualized glare he was getting.

"W-we came here if you knew anything….about someone named….Ignitus." Spyro finished.

"Oh where do we begin with him?" Cynder said.

"Let's just say, him and us are not on the best of terms…" Amica cleared up.

"What does that mean?" Flame asked.

"It means that he has the armies fighting to save this world also hunting us down almost as the Dark Master's armies."Amica answered. Cynder sighed and nodded.

"What, did you two like kill one of their camps or something?" Spyro asked. Both black dragons nodded. "Wait, why?"

"Because they were on the verge of being thrown into a stupid situation that they couldn't handle." Cynder replied. "It's not like we killed anyone."

"And that makes it ok?" Flame asked. Both black dragon siblings shrugged.

"It was either do that or let them die by Malefor's hand. We knew they needed those troops, so we had to do it." Amica said.

"What exactly did you do?" Spyro asked.

"Burned their supplies and created a firewall to make them move back to their previous position." Cynder replied. Spyro and Flame sighed.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Amica asked. Both brothers quickly shook their heads. Without saying another word, Spyro and Flame turned to leave and they made their way to the door. They flew off leaving the two black drakes and the cub inside the warehouse. The cub slid off of Amica's back and then Cynder told him what she heard from spying on them. Amica gave her a few confused stares as she talked about the way they treated each other…like it was familiar to someone else he knew a long time ago, but then she referenced what the librarian said. "So you're saying Ignitus will be here tomorrow?"

"That's what the librarian said and normally she isn't wrong." Cynder replied.

"Damn, that complicates things. If he decides to send his pets to strike then, the city would never stand a chance." Amica said. "Alright, we're going to have to come up with a plan of defense if there's an attack tomorrow."

"Do you really think he would attack a city while it is helpless?" Cynder asked.

"You saw what he did to mom. I have no doubt he would take this opportunity." Amica said coldly. Cynder flinched a little and then her scared bother's face softened up and she eased up. She knew he wasn't angry at her, hell he saved her life on more than one occasion and the scars he had were proof of it. "He might not attack, who knows, but I want to be ready for when he does and that includes protecting the fire guardian from 'them.' Cynder nodded and the two began forming a plan with the cub listening to them intently.

Meanwhile, Spyro and Flame were walking back home, they stopped to buy some food but took it on the go. They bought some for Sparx who's been sleeping a lot more than usual. 'Must be one of his _hibernation_ seasons.' Flame thought. They arrived but they saw Sparx fully awake and flying around. "So let me get this straight, you two notice I've been sleeping longer than normal and don't bother to just wake me up?" Both dragons nod. "Well now you have to fill me in on exactly what you two did during those days."

"It's best if we don't." Spyro said.

"Why not? Something regarding the 'coveted secrete' that you two still won't tell me?" Sparx asked. Flame shook his head. "Then what is it dragon boys?"

"We've been….um….." Flame began.

"Oh for crying out loud tell me already." Sparx said.

"We've been training. Alright? We've been going out of town and just training." Spyro half-lied. Sparx bought the lie and then Flame handed him the food they got him. The family ate their food in peace and sat and talked for the rest of the day. After a few hours, night began falling on the city and the three soon slipped off to bed.

-The next morning-

That morning, all 4 of our heroes woke up early that morning. While Spyro and Flame were rushing over to the inner-city to see the fire guardian that would arrive soon, Amica and Cynder began preparing their defenses. The cub had to stay behind in the warehouse, but he promised he would be good and watched his caretakers take off into the sky. Amica and Cynder set up on opposing rooftops and used their ability to use people's shadows to listen in on conversations while their eyes focused on the crowd. 'Well, we'll be here for a while.' Amica thought as he lied down.

By the time Spyro and Flame showed up, the crowd was already massive and the guards were keeping people back from the centre of the square. The brothers fought through the crowd and soon found themselves at the front and then a shadow covered the entire crowd. They looked up for the source and saw a dragon landing behind the guards. The crowd instantly recognized him and started trying to rush him mainly because they wanted to know how the war was going and how many of their loved ones have been hurt, maimed, or worse. The guards tried keeping them back and Ignitus cleared his throat to address the crowd. As the older dragon was telling them about how the war effort was going, Spyro and Flame saw their opening and slipped behind the guards unnoticed. They snuck up behind then older fire dragon and sat down to decide their next move. "Go on, you get his attention." Flame whispered.

"Wha-what me? I-I can't, you do it." Spyro replied. The two began bickering until Spyro finally caved in. He let loose a cough that got Ignitus' attention, luckily he speech had just ended at this time. He turned to find the source of the sound and then saw both drakes sitting behind him.

"How can I help you, young dragons." Ignitus said.

"W-we we're wondering if you knew our father and what happened to him." Flame said.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific than that. What was his name?" the fire guardian asked.

"Fortem sir." Spyro replied. Ignitus' eyes went wide.

"Guards, would mind clearing a path to the library please? I need to speak to these dragons alone." Ignitus said. The guards nodded and then cleared the way for the fire guardian and the two young drakes. Eventually they entered the library, this time it was empty due to the crowd outside and Ignitus took the two dragons to a distant part of the main room.

"So, uh sir, is there a reason you asked into the library?" Spyro asked.

"Yes there is…it is about your father." Ignitus said.

"What about him? Is he dead? Missing? What happened?" The twins asked in sync. Ignitus sighs and looks up he mumbles to himself but Spyro and Flame heard their mother's name in his mumbling.

"Th-there is something I have to tell you two." Ignitus said with a tear in his eye. Both brothers took this as a sign that Fortem was dead but then the fire guardian continued. "I-I am your father."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After Ignitus said those words, time seemed to stand still for all three of them. The words his both Spyro and Flame like a wind torrent and both of them found it hard to keep their feet below them. "You're…you're our father….." Spyro said at a loss for words.

"I-I'm sorry I had to stay away for so long. When the Dark Master's troops raided the house, I saw it burning to the ground and I thought you had perished in the fire…I-I now see that I was wrong…" Ignitus said with a few more tears coming to his eyes. Both Flame and Spyro welled up.

"I-is…is it true…?" Flame asked between breaths. Ignitus nodded and then Flame ran over to the fire guardian and embraced him in a hug. Spryo followed suit and both young dragons were hugging and nuzzling their father. Ignitus wrapped them in his forearms and held them close to him. The trio cired…no Ignitus cried, but Spyro and Flame completely lost it. They were sobbing tears of joy so uncontrollably, that their eyes were lined with red puffs and there was a noticeable pool of water below them. Eventually, the twins cried so much that their tear ducks had no more water and were dry-sobbing.

"Shhhhhhhhh…I'm here now." Ignitus said rubbing their backs trying to calm them down. Eventually the twins managed to pull themselves together and then the trio broke their embrace.

"W-where's mom…?" Flame asked. Ignitus looked down to the ground and Flame felt a new wave of tears he could cry, but this time he held them in. Spyro had a few choked sobs and looked down himself. A tense moment of silence erupted from the three dragons before the two shadow dragon siblings emerged from the shadow realm. Both Spyro and Flame jumped and Ignitus gave them confused stares. "Wh-what are you two doing here?" Flame asked.

"Well, after hearing your story, I figured you would need something to help break the silence emanating from you three." Cynder said. Flame and Spyro both groaned and face pawed, while Ignitus looked at them curiously.

"And who exactly might you two be?" Ignitus asked.

"Well…you never got our names the last time we met." Amica said finally opening his scarlet eyes and looked at Ignitus. Ignitus' eyes went wide when he remembered the last time he saw those eyes. It was at least 2 years ago, back when he helped the front lines of the armies, their camp was attacked by two dragons that have only been heard of like a war myth. The Demon of the Night and the Terror of the Skies were attacking their camp. All around him, Ignitus saw fellow soldiers either lose a limb or become unable to fight from these two dragons alone. The two dragons went tent to tent, yanking sleeping soldiers from their sleep and hurled them into other troops not that far away. He watched as the two shadow drakes firebombed supplies, destroyed defenses, and all but prevented them from being able to advance. One of the two drakes landed on a crate that was slowly being consumed by black fire. As the fire licked the edge of the wooden crate, the dragon looked right at him, crimson eyes staring right into his soul as if pulling out what made him afraid and using it against him in some form of unspoken interrogation. It was at that moment when he called for his forces to pull back. The troops complied and they pulled back as the dragons continued to burn the camp to the ground. Later it was discovered that Malefor's armies were already on the march towards the camp, but no record of the two shadow dragons could be found in Malefor's intercepted deployment logs. It was almost as if the attack on the camp never was ordered. That's when Ignitus ordered for the capture of the Demon of the Night and the Terror of the Skies because he couldn't let two rouge dragons decide to fight both sides for their own gains, yet they never were captured. Now, two years later, he's come face to face with the two drakes again and they seemed to have some form of relationship with his children. The only family he has left to call his own. After this realization, Ignitus took up a defensive posture in front of Spyro and Flame.

"D-dad? What are you doing?" Flame asked. Ignitus ignored Flame and growled a little. Amica got in a similar posture.

"Don't do this old man. I really don't want to hurt you." Amica said in his posture. Cynder tried pushing her brother to stop, but every nudge she gave was ignored. The two dragons' eyes were locked with each other's and neither would back down. Amica then let out a primal snarl and Ignitus bared his teeth a little. Before Ignitus could react however, he was suddenly forced to the ground by an unseen force. Spyro and Flame gasped but Cynder nearly shouted.

"Amica. Stop it now!" She yelled. Again she was ignored and her face went pale slightly. Spyro and Flame were about to move forward but saw Cynder shaking her head. Her brother was in his 'killing mode' as she came to call it. Amica then started walking towards Ignitus. His eyes faded of color and he lifted his right forepaw and extended one of his claws. He then slowly cut into Ignitus' skin, it wasn't a deep cut but it still drew blood. He then finished his cut and then locked eyes with the fire guardian.

"Don't tempt me to do this again _Ignitus_." Amica said. He then released Ignitus and the color came back to his eyes. Spyro and Flame let out the breaths they were holding and then went to their father to see if he was alright.

"I-I'm fine you two. It's just a scratch." The fire guardian said to calm the two younger drakes down. Cynder however slapped her brother upside the head. Amica rubbed his jaw a little but didn't really feel the pain.

"What were you thinking?" She asked him.

"I was preparing to fight him, but that doesn't matter now." Amica said.

"You're right." Ignitus stated. Cynder grunted out of annoyance.

"What does that mean?" Flame asked.

"It means that our score is settled." Ignitus answered. Amica nodded. "Now, I have something important I need to ask you two."

"What is it?" Spyro asked.

"How would you two like to come with me back to the temple with me?" Ignitus asked. Both Flame and Spyro's eyes lit up.

"R-really?" Flame responded. Ignitus nodded and Spyro and Flame both began wagging their tails eagerly. Cynder then let out a cough that got everyone's attention.

"We're coming to." She said.

"Wait why?" Spyro asked.

"Well for one, to add more security to the temple in case the Dark Master attacks and two is to make sure you complete your melee training." Amica answered. Spyro groaned but then Flame smacked him with the blunt end of his tail blade. Spyro rubbed his head.

"I guess we could accommodate you two." Ignitus said.

"Good, then meet us at the warehouse your sons know within an hour." Amica stated. Cynder then nodded in agreement and then both dragons vanished in a plume of black smoke.

"So how exactly do you know those two?" Ignitus asked his sons.

"It's a long story dad…" Flame answered. Ignitus sighed and the trio left the library. They then took off and Spyro and Flame guided Ignitus back to the alleyway they called home. When they arrived however, Ignitus wasn't the happiest dragon. Now he wasn't mad in the sense of angry with his sons, but madder at the fact of how they were forced to live like this. Spyro and Flame finally convinced Sparx to tag along with them and they set out to meet Amica and Cynder at the ware house. As they flew, Spyro and Flame never really strayed too far from Ignitus, not that the old fire drake didn't mind the company.

"So, who raised you two as you grew up?" Ignitus asked them.

"Well, we had Pops…..but he died some time ago…" Spyro replied. Ignitus put his head down a little then looked back to them.

"I'm glad to see you two were kept in good hands." He said. The brothers smiled and then they landed at the warehouse.

"So you 4 ready?" Cynder asked.

"Wait wait hold on, why do we have to take those two with us?" Sparx asked.

"Because we need to." Amica replied simply. Sparx shrugged.

"Yes, I think we are." Ignitus said. The shadow twins nodded and they all took off for the forest temple.

-A few hours later-

Well it was one of the longest flights that Spyro had ever done, but in his mind the aches and pains were worth it. At his point though, he was slowly succumbing to his exhaustion and his eyes started closing on him. Luckily though, they were actually about to land. When they did land, they were greeted by a sealed wooden door to which Ignitus said the password to. The door then opened and the 7 of them stepped inside. As they were walking, they started hearing shouts come from the room they were approaching. It seemed like a pretty heated argument. "Volteer for the last time, my ancestors were pure ice dragons plain and simple. I don't need you undermining my heritage because you have some form of 'logic' behind them being hybrids."

"And Cyril for the last time, it is literally impossible for you to be a pure ice dragon. Dantaie's Freezer is already scarcely populated by only ice dragons and one could only guess what it was like twenty-thousand years ago." The now name Volteer replied. Ignitus leaned down to their height and whispered to them as they were walking.

"I think you 6 should go see your rooms, and maybe go take a bath at the baths. Both are down that hall to the left." Ignitus said. The others nodded to him and set off with Amcia, Cynder, and the cub going to one room while Spyro, Flame and Sparx share another room. Spyro and Flame walked to the baths while the others got acquainted with their rooms. They opened the door and inside, they saw 5 tubs with steaming hot water inside of them. Spyro instantly hopped in one while Flame was a little reluctant.

"What's wrong Flame?" Spyro asked. Flame looked away.

"I'm afraid." He replied in a surprisingly higher pitched voice. Talking in it like it was his true voice despite him never using it.

"Afraid of what?" Spyro asked.

"Afriad of what they'll think. I-I just don't know if I'm ready for it." Flame replied.

"Flame, you're my sibling, just know that no matter what they think of it, I'll be beside you. After all, you were hatched like this after all." Spyro said. Flame huffed a little.

"I guess you're right, now move your purple butt so I can get in the bath to." Flame stated. Spyro chuckled and Flame climbed in, slowly letting the garbage and other smells wash off. After a few minutes, Spyro had the bright idea to splash his sibling with water. Flame gave him a mock death-glare and the water war began. While the two were playing in the water, A dragon materialized near the door. Neither dragon noticed until it was already in another bath across from them. Something then snapped and Flame threw the soap at the dragon. It hit him hard in the back of the head.

"Ow, what the hell?" Amcia asked as he turned around. He dodged another bar that Spyro was using which Flame grabbed. "Hey, hey! Stop it will you, I'm trying to clean myself here." While this happened, Spyro fell into a fit of laughter and then Amica gave him a confused stare until something clicked. The way Flame fought, the reason why he rubbed himself on the brick wall th day Cynder spied on them, and the odd glare he got from him. "Oh shit…I uh…I'd better…I'll just go." Amica said.

"Yeah, you should." Spyro said. Amica then vanished into thin air and Flame managed to calm down.

"Why did I have to throw that soap at him?" Flame asked.

"I don't know, but you sure provided me with a laugh." Spyro replied. Flame scowled and lightly punched his shoulder.

"But now I drew attention to myself. What if he tells someone?" Flame questioned.

"At this point, I doubt they wouldn't find out as soon as we left the room." Spyro said to Flame. "Although, I think we should tell dad when we get out." Flame nodded and they soon finished their baths. They left the room and walked into a big circular room full of bookshelves and a large table where Ignitus and a green dragon were talking. The green dragon left and then Ignitus noticed the twins.

"What brings you two by here?" He asked.

"Dad…there's something we have to tell you." Spyro said.

"What is it?" Ignitus questioned.

"I-I'm a…girl…dad." Flame said.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Ignitus said.

"I said I'm a girl dad." Flame reiterated. Ignitus looked at her confused.

"What's wrong with that young one?" Ignitus asked

"W-well we've been kind of…hiding it." Spyro added. Ignitus glared at them confused.

"But why?" He asked. Both sighed.

"Because we didn't want you to think less of me because I'm a girl alright?" Flame blurted out.

"Why would you being a girl make me think less of my own daughter?" Ignitus asked. "You two are my children and nothing can change that." Both young dragons looked up to their father.

"Thanks, dad." Spyro replied. Ignitus smiled before an all too familiar voice made its way into the room.

"So this was the 'coveted' secrete you two were hiding?" Sparx asked. "So does this mean you two are lovy duvy?" Flame and Spyro looked at him in surprise.

"What!?" They both exclaimed.

"I knew it!" Sparx said mockingly. "So long have you two been a thing?"

"Sparx please!" Flame begged.

"Begging won't help you, I want to know the juicy details." The quipy dragonfly said. Flame put her head towards the ground shameand then began walking away.

"Wait where are you going?" Spyro asked. Flame sighed.

"F-for a walk…" She said with a small tear falling from her eye. She didn't like it when people would make fun of her like that…Spyro didn't either, but to her it was more traumatic in a way. The last thing Flame heard before fully leaving the room was Spyro shouting at Sparx for his comment with Ignitus joining in a little.

Unknown to the youn fire dragoness, two shadows were watching and observing her. One who was level and felt a tiny ping of sadness for her and the other with a more surprised tone. Neither shadow knew the other was there but they both watched as she walked away. The black dragon that were the former shadow sighed and went the other way while the electric dragon that heard the incident followed behind at a distance to make sure Flame was ok.

" _Why can't I just be accepted by people for being a girl and not seen as something else? Is that really too much to ask?_ " Flame mumbled as she walked to the empty balcony that over looked the swamp forest. The setting sun glistened off the tops of the trees as she let out a sigh and sat there alone. A few tears fell from her face as she thought about it all; her deception, her lies, and even her mockery. It sickened her to a degree when she finally summed up the last 10 years of her life. Like someone was slowly turning her stomach into a knot and waiting for her to scream in sadness and pain. Before her electric dragon stalker could stand next to her however, he was surprised to see a black dragon appear from her shadow.

"This spot taken?" A male voice behind Flame said. Flame jumped to see the black dragon she assaulted with stones and soap before behind her.

"I-Er…um…" She started.

"I guess that's a no…" Amica said sitting 2 feet to her left. Flame tried not to look at the scared, black dragon next to her because every time she did, she would become flustered and embarased. Amica however didn't seem to even notice her and just looked over the jungle. The two were silent for a good 30 minutes before Amica broke it. "I heard what happened in the Library…the things the dragonfly said. Honestly I feel that the pixie-stick shouldn't have said that, but I guess we can't control was other people say."

"That's a…blunt…way to put it." Flame said before sighing.

"I find it better to take a problem head on than beat around the bush." Amica said matter-of-factly. Silence fell over the two for another few minutes. A small breeze began picking up, blowing away the old, dead leaves off the balcony and sides of the Temple. "My advice is to just ignore him." He said breaking the silence again. She looked at him to find him still sitting a little proudly at the edge by the railing.

"You don't understand…I've been his friend for at least 10 years and he just suddenly starts that while I feel completely exposed?" Flame stated with a huff.

"I actually do…but it's too personal for me to say right now." Amica replied. "And you're not that exposed. I mean that you still told your old man about your secrete…which by the way I'm still not happy about the bath incident so expect laps for it."

"I-I'm sorry about my reaction." Flame said looking down. Amica turned to see her and nodded. Flame looked up to see his nod before blushing a little at his final noticing of her with his crimson eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Amica asked her.

"How-how did you get your scars?" She inquired. Amica looked away and sighed.

"War…" Amica replied.

"That's the best I'll get I guess…" Flame said trailing off.

"At least until I trust you both more." He replied. Flame sighed.

"You know you're not the best at this right?" Flame told him. Amica raised an eyebrow.

"At what?" He asked.

"Cheering me up." Flame said.

"I-I wasn't really…I was just being honest." Amica stated.

"Oh…" Flame looked away. "Can I ask why you don't trust me?"

"It's the same reason I don't trust a lot of people…because I have no idea of their intentions. I still feel I over stepped my barriers by following you here." He answered. Flame perked up a little and looked at the black dragon in surprise.

"That means you must trust me somewhat…" She said.

"I think it is because you remind me of my sister."

"What about me?" Cynder said behind them making only Flame jump.

"Nothing…I was just going." Amica said flatly before walking away. Cynder sighed and watched her older brother walk away.

"Where is he going?" Flame asked.

"Probably to find the training area of the temple, he isn't the best for small talk." Cynder replied still looking down the hall.

"He-he said I reminded him of you…what does he mean by that?" Flame asked. Cynder looked to the fire dragoness and sighed a little.

"He was probably referring to before he trained me…before he started killing." Cynder replied. Flame looked at her in surprise. ' _A time before he killed?_ ' she thought. ' _What was he like then?_ ' "I can see the gears turning…and no I don't know what he was like before he became what he is now. I was too young to remember that version of my brother. He's never even told me why he doesn't even smile at all…like it's something that I'd be ashamed to hear or something."

"He even keeps things from you?" Flame asked.

"Just what life was like at my father's house before he saved me from a dark fate." Cynder replied. "The one thing he's super tight lipped about is mom and what happened to her."

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Flame said looking up at the extremely dark purple dragoness.

"It's fine. Not like it matters too much now." Cynder replied.

"Oh." Flame defeatedly said. The two then just stared out into the hall as they heard a door bang closed. Behind that door was a black dragon, whose scales were glowing with purple spirals glowing from the top of them as he huffed in anger.

"I'm such an idiot." Amica said as he fell further into his anger. "Why and I opening up like that?" He then punched the ground and it actually cracked and formed a small crater under his paw. "I-I don't need anyone…Not that purple dragon, not the guardians, no body…" He then punched the ground again and this time there was a green stain on the floor as his paw began bleeding an unnatural black color. He then took a few deep breaths and composed himself into a calm state. The black dragon then looked at the mini-craters and sighed. ' _Why now? Why does my caring side have to flare up now of all times? It should've stayed dead where it wasn't a distraction._ ' He thought as he activated the arena to make dummies spawn for him. They fell effortlessly to Amica's shadow fire before the next wave spawned. As the black dragon killed that wave with his bear claws, having a few grunts tossed here and there, Spyro stepped inside looking mad as ever. He looked up and saw Amica inside the room killing the dummies left and right without a single shred of remorse.

"What's eating you?" Spyro asked. Amica shot a glare at the young drake before plowing his claws into another dummy's head.

"Nothing." He replied coldly, finishing the last one off in the process.

"Suuuurrrrreee…and Mr. Heartstopper wasn't talking to my sister for no reason." Spyro remarked. Amica snapped his head to face Spyro.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked flatly as he climbed off the dummy's corpse.

"You tell me. She seemed to be 'invested' in what you had to say." Spyro said defensively of his sister.

"Oh is that what this is about? You think I care about her?" Amica then broke down in a dark laughing fit and walked over to Spyro. "Tell me…what makes you think I care about what you whelps think?" Spyro looked at the black drake in anger.

"I know you care about her in some way." Spyro replied smugly, hoping to earn a reaction from Amica, but nothing was given.

"I just told her the truth that's it. Then she asked me questions and I answered. Simple as that." Amica said flatly. "So maybe you should just keep your fucking head out of the proverbial gutter and learn to accept things as they are."

"Geez man what's your deal?" Spyro asked him.

"I don't have one. I just don't trust you." Amica replied. He then brushed past Spyro with his shoulder, causing Spyro to slide a foot or two over to the side as he was bumped. Spyro grunted as he watched the black dragon close the door only for Flame and Cynder to walk in.

"What did you say to him?" Flame asked Spyro.

"Nothing at all…I just came in and he was angry." Spyro replied.

"That's odd…he's never just been mad like that before. What did he say before he left?" Cynder asked.

"He just said he didn't trust me and walked off…"Spyro replied. Cynder looked into his purple eyes and saw how they didn't falter from her gaze, indicating he was being truthful. Cynder sighed and looked to the room that was littered with dummies.

"I'll go talk to him." Cynder said before turning around to walk away.

"W-wait…" Flame said causing Cynder to stop.

"Why?" Cynder inquired.

"I-I'll go, after all he did leave to follow me after all. I might as well return the favor to him." Flame replied.

"Ok…just let me know if he gets worse." Cynder told Flame. Flame nods and leaves Spyro and Cynder alone in the room.

"Soooooo…..what do you want to do?" Spyro asked. Cynder shrugged.

"I guess we can start up the training program again and work on your form?" Cynder suggested and Spyro nodded. Cynder then activate the dummies and they sprang back to life. The two young dragons took up defensive postures and began fighting the dummies. Spyro used his fire breath to attack, while Cynder decided to use her claws to shred them to pieces. Bits of burnt straw and wooden appendages flew from the dummies as they attacked.

As they fought the horde, Spyro and Cynder became more and more in sync with each other's movements working off of each other. As Spyro would blast one, Cynder would slice another that was going to attack him, before Spyro turned to attack one attacking Cynder. The purple drake slashed it apart, but failed to realize that his claws had an electric current to them. His movements became faster and faster until he released electricity from his maw instead of fire. Cynder didn't really care and kept attacking but Spyro freaked out. "I CAN USE MORE THAN ONE!?" he exclaimed in surprise. Just then he was conked by a club from a dummy he didn't see and fell on the ground due to the force. Cynder the saw Spyro fall to the ground before attacking the ape dummy.

Spyro watched her jump over his body and attack the ape, who fell in seconds. Cynder then turned to Spyro and extended her paw towards him. Spyro grabbed it and was pulled to his feet by her. The two stared at each other, faces inches apart for a few seconds before Cynder's cheeks became slightly red. Before anything else could happen, the final dummy charged at Cynder before quickly being zapped by Spyro. The young purple dragon smirked a little before Cynder coughed in his direction to catch his attention. Spyro snapped to her before looking away sheepishly. "I know you just unlocked your second element purple boy, but you don't need to show it off." Cynder said causing Spyro to blush a little from embarrassment. Cynder giggle to herself a little. "Let's run it again, and this time only use 1 element." Spyro quickly shook off his blush and nodded. Cynder started up the program again and the two dragons began training again.


End file.
